In
an afternoon ceremony moved indoors due to rain, students planted eight
tulip bulbs in a plastic flower box, one for each class at the school.
The ceremony, held in the school gym, was attended by local dignitaries
such as Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark and Brockville Police Chief
Scott Fraser. At the end of the ceremony, the entire school population
posed for a group photo waving hand-held Canadian flags.

The
school is one of only 150 locations across Canada to be awarded one of
the tulip gardens. Comprised of 1,500 red and white tulip bulbs, the
gardens are being planted to mark Canada’s Sesquicentennial next year,
said Jennifer Wright, a teacher at Vanier who helped organize the event.
Won in a contest run by Canada’s Garden Route, the
bulbs will be planted in the pattern of a Canadian flag in a newly
created flower bed on school grounds. Apart from using it to mark
Canada’s 150th birthday next year, the garden will serve as
the focal point for a variety of lessons in life sciences, English,
mathematics and even history.

Most importantly, the garden will
help students remember Canada’s Sesquicentennial in much the same way
their parents and grandparents recall the 1967 Centennial.

“A lot
of what we’re trying to do here is build lasting memories for students,”
said Wright, an avid gardener who applied to the contest on the
school’s behalf. “And the best way to build memories is to provide
students with an experience that is sensory and visual that ensures they
will remember it.”

Students are conducting interviews with
relatives who remember the Centennial and are writing about their
experiences. Grades 5 and 6 students are involved in a mathematics
exercise, plotting how the bulbs must be planted so they can grow into
the Canadian flag pattern next spring. The exercise is helping students
develop measurement, addition, graphing and organizational skills.
Teacher Peter Gilder has also designed a template, including a large
paper Maple Leaf, that will be placed in the garden to guide the
planting.

When the tulips come out in the flag pattern next May,
the school will host a giant block party, inviting neighbours, local
dignitaries, and neighbouring schools to celebrate Canada’s
Sesquicentennial.

The school would like to thank the Rotary Club of Brockville, the Rotary Club of the 1000 Islands, Home Depot, the Brockville Horticultural Society, and Green Things Landscaping 2010 for their support of the 150th Celebration Garden project.